Life Update - 2018 so far!

Hello everyone! It's been quite a long time since my last blog post, I'm normally pretty on the ball with scheduling posts, tweets and having my images edited and ready to go bit the last few weeks have been so busy I haven't even had time to think straight!

My last post was 3 weeks ago, so I thought I'd share some of the things I've been up to recently and share some snaps. I love seeing pictures of things that other people have been up to so I hope you like seeing mine too!

The Brass Beetle

We were super lucky recently and were invited to the opening of the Brass Beetle, this is a new restaurant on Whitchurch Road in Cardiff and I think it fills a gap in the market.

The Brass Beetle 

Street Food Circus

Hi there!

As promised earlier in the week, here is my review on the Street Food Circus, it opened up just last weekend.

Situated behind Radisson Blu hotel in Cardiff right next to the No Fit State circus this was an impressive event, though my photos don't seem to do it any justice!

Having kickstarted the Street Food trend in Cardiff to begin with, SFC have really done an amazing job this time with the Street Food circus. They had an amazing array of food from pizzas, hotdogs and churros to Lebanese, Greek and Hokkei - the Asian takeaway run by two Masterchef finalists.

Below shows my choosing from Hokkei, beef brisket, kimchee and black beans in a soft doughy bun - it was pretty amazing!

What was most pleasing to me at the bar was the discovery of Pimms Cider Cup - as an avid cider and Pimms drinker I'd like to congratulate the inventor of this amazing beverage. Hands down this will be my drink of the summer and I can't wait to have more! (I was driving so only one bottle for me this weekend!)

The idea for the Street Food events is that you eat from a few different stands to experience a variety of foods that you might not otherwise have tried. I did play it safe this time, I knew I would love the Asian food from Hokkei and my second choice was the infamous Dirty Fried Chicken (DFC).

Arguably most famous for their controversial logo, their chicken has been raved about by many and as a chicken fan I couldn't leave without trying it.

It most definitely didn't disappoint, the chicken was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It came with a pot of sauce of your choice and a homemade slaw. I liked this but as someone who can't really deal with celery I couldn't finish it off.....sorry DFC!



Between the two ends of food stalls there is also a massive circus tent with the bars inside, and plenty of seating. There are your usual rows of chairs and tables and also a few random vehicles and sofas to sit on and devour your food. It's also decorated with bunting and a disco ball - who doesn't love a disco ball!

There were so many more food places I wanted to try, the HangFire Smokehouse and Dough boys stands are some I have seen a few times at events and am still yet to try, the Lebanese food and the stand selling the Welsh cockles and crab in flatbreads.
I need to go back and sample more food!

Have you been to the Street Food Circus? Do you have street food events in your cities?

I'd fully recommend trying out any event like this, though I am a big food enthusiast!

L xxx

10 Tips to Live a Happier Life

Hi there pals!

I recently wrote about my choice of 'happiness' by quitting my job which was essentially taking over my life without any benefit to myself whatsoever. (see here for more info!)

I've been reading a lot about happiness recently and have seen lots of articles and debates about it. What is true happiness? How can you achieve it?

Happiness is different for everyone, but there are a few key things everyone should try to add a little but more happiness to your day and your life. There's no point living a miserable existence for the sake of it!

In fact even the Pope has recently released his own top 10 tips for happiness, although in my opinion a lot of his are very similar and a little too, shall we say boring?

Here's my top ten tips for being happier:

1) Take care of yourself, have some 'me' time. Sleep, pamper, curl up in bed. Stuff your face with chocolate and don't speak to anyone for a whole 24 hours if you don't want to. It's important to be alone with your own thoughts, it gives you chance to know what you really want. If not, go and get your nails done as a treat, spend an hour in the bath until you're wrinkly and if all else fails, life is always better with a tan! Just make sure you save some time for yourself.

2) Connect with others and do something to help them, particularly those who are already important in your life. Always make time for your family and friends, they are the people who are and will be there for you when you really need them. Even a text, phone call or a snapchat can be an easy way of communicating with them and brightening their day and it will make you happier too. It can be great to have a bitch fest too, just to get your bad day, nightmare colleague, irritating partner etc all off your chest! Catching up in any way possible will always make you feel better.

3) Learn new things, be curious, read, ask and question everything. There's nothing worse (and I'm talking from experience) than having a bored mind with nothing intellectually stimulating to occupy yourself with.
I'm someone who loves to read, loves to learn and I'm generally quite a fast learner, having that taken away from me made me so unbelievably unhappy that I couldn't even see a way out. Since I've taken back control of things I've been reading so much more and finding everything interesting again. It's good to relax but it's also good to keep your mind busy too.

4)  Revisit old things. I've had a huge clear out recently which is something that I try to do regularly as I just have far too much stuff and seem to be a bit of a hoarder! It's great to declutter and make more space in your room/house. But aside from that, look at old photos, make a scrapbook of some of your favourite memories, reminisce with friends over coffee or cocktails about your school days or holidays you've been on. Memories are all you have that nobody can take away from you!

5) Get active, get outside. I'm a firm believer that exercise is a massive factor in happiness. I would never have said this years ago but it truly is the main thing that keeps my stress and food intolerances at bay. I now think that there really is no excuse for you not to get some exercise in a few times a week; whether it be walking, dancing, running, swimming or any kind of exercise class or gym that you can find. I find that mixing it up and doing different things is the best way to go about it, hiking up a hill getting tonnes of fresh air, seeing new scenes and following it up on the way back with fish and chips is one of my all time favourites things to do! Fresh air literally works wonders, get out in it.

6) Move on, live and let live, there's so many sayings I could list but sometimes there's just nothing you can do but walk away from something. Whether it's your job like in my case, your relationship, a friendship or any number of things, sometimes it's best just to move on and leave it all behind. The negativity can drag you down and it's not worth it when you could be having such a better life. Surround yourself with happy people who support your choices.

7) Cut down on the social media. I'm a firm believer in taking pictures on a night out and sharing them with my friends; but constant photos, tweets and statuses can't truly mean you're having a good night? I almost always tweet a picture on the night, it's lovely to be able to share your new dress, hair etc with your friends but for day to day life sharing every meal and constantly comparing yourself to other people's feeds isn't healthy. Social media is a portrayal of someone's life as they wish you to see it not how their life really is. Take a break from it for a few days, and you'll see that really, you're not missing anything.

8) Set yourself goals, make plans for the future, be organised. It can be great to just live each day as it comes but if, like me, you want to get loads done in your life it' a good idea to make a loose plan. 

9) Don't take life seriously. Throw those shapes on the dancefloor, have an eating competition, pull faces in photos. I haven't done any of these things in a long time, it's high time I had a little more fun with life and wore something crazy and danced like a loony!

10) Choose your own path; never give a fuck what anyone says you should or shouldn't be doing. They don't know you, they don't know what you want and you should never do something to please somebody else who wouldn't do the same for you.

If in doubt; refer to Harry Potter:




L xxx

Life Update

Hi all!

Apologies for the serious lack of posts from myself recently; not only have I been living it up at Glastonbury and hen partying it in Edinburgh I have also had a lot going on at home as my mum is ill and my job isn't working for me so I'm having to look for another .

It's extremely frustrating and heartbreaking to admit defeat and give up on everything you worked so hard for but I cannot continue to work for a company who promised me so much and yet have given me so little. It takes up a lot of my time, energy and finances to even get there and my lack of training combined with minimal financial gain, no chance of this changing in the near future and no real career development I'm absolutely gutted to think I might have to call it a day. 

I'm still trying to make my decision as after telling them I was going to leave a month ago they promised me that things would change if I gave them a few weeks to prove it but unfortunately not enough has changed.

I'm trying to stay positive and tell myself that it's giving me a new start and that everything happens for a reason but it's extremely hard to think like that sometimes. I feel like my job was all I really had going for me and without that I'm not really left with much.

That aside I've been so busy with social events that I've barely had time to breathe! My friend had her hen weekend in Edinburgh and it was amazing, I've always wanted to go there having never been to Scotland and it didn't disappoint. 

We managed to fit in a trip to the dungeons, karaoke, food, dancing and the zoo, though we missed a time slot for the pandas so we couldn't see them! I definitely want to revisit and wander the cobbled streets for hours and hours, its so beautiful.

This weekend I have had another hen party to attend for the same group of friends but for a different bride to be, this one involved GoApe, Ann Summers party and lots of games so was a lot of fun but unfortunately not many photos were taken! Next weekend is her wedding so she's keeping everything really close together which is a nice change from those that are planned so far in advance; though I can't say I wasn't worried when she was swinging in the trees! We had to dress up as animals so a few of us clubbed together to buy face paint to make us into zebras:

Me and M have also been out a few times recently. We went out a few weeks ago for food to catch up after Glastonbury and just have a quiet evening after the madness of the festival. We went to a place in Cardiff called Got Beef which was amazing, mostly selling different types of burgers but they also have beef brisket and loads of other things. My brother is a big fan and told me to go just so that I could have the Heisenburger: any Breaking Bad fan would be crazy NOT to order it, so of course i did!

I mean blue onions?! how amazing. Definitely a fun kind of place and I'll be going back again to try more!

We also went out for drinks for her birthday and managed an impressive 6 cocktails in 3 hours before getting the last bus home, we know how to live...!

Hopefully this week will be a little quieter and I will have some time to catch up with myself and write some posts. A lot are overdue but unfortunately there's only so much that one person can do at one time!
I could do with Hermione's time turner right now...

L xxx

Peanut Hottie*

Happy Sunday lovelies!

As its bank holiday weekend I hope you're not nursing too much of a hangover....there's still another night of madness to go!

As a tea drinker most of my needs are catered for. Feeling down? Have a brew. Eaten too much? Hit the peppermint tea. Need to calm down and get a good nights sleep? Try some camomile.

Sometimes though....it's just not enough. This is where the Peanut Hottie comes in.

As one of the biggest fan of peanut butter, I cannot believe there hasn't been a drink like this created sooner!

At only 83 calories this is amazing and so simple to make. Just boil some water, add your sachet to a mug and pour the water over. Very technical!



I'd had a long week at work and decided that my Friday night treat was going to be this. It looks a hell of a lot like tea but smells exactly like peanut butter, it was a weird mix of senses for me!



I really enjoyed the taste of it and it definitely tasted like hot peanut butter although it was very sweet. As a tea drinker normally this took some getting used to but i really enjoyed it and it was the perfect Friday treat for me!

The only downside I can see is that it contains a large amount of sugar and could probably have less in it without taking away from the taste. PB is known for being salty and I'm not suggesting the drink needs to be like that at all but its possibly a bit too sweet for me.

Having said that I'd definitely drink it again and would probably buy a few sachets to keep in the cupboard for times of need!

What do you think of Peanut butter? Would you like to try a Peanut Hottie drink too?


L xxx

Morning All

Like L I'm a huge peanut butter addict. I'd say I have it probably 6 days a week. It goes well with every breakfast or a great snack with a banana! As soon as we were offered to try it I jumped at the chance! Another way to add peanut butter to my diet.

I do try to eat a healthyish diet now but sweet things and junk food are a bit of a weakness for me. For me lately I've been struggling to give up chocolate and biscuits. I really need to cut it out or go back to making myself healthier alternatives.

L is great and has given up most of it but for me I still need a sweet fix. Due to this I don't find it too sweet as I'm still a bit of a sugar addict.

I've been loving having these as a sweet treat to perk me up through a crappy day! They can also be added to porridge and such for a nutty treat!

I can't wait to try adding these to icing and try baking with them. I've also seen a recipe online where it was used in a stir fry. The recipes and more information can be found at http://peanuthottie.com/

I'm loving these as a little sweet pick me up and they are helping with my peanut butter addiction. I'll be definitely re purchasing. Peanut hottie can be found in selected Sainsburys, Waitrose and Booths.

Love M

xxx

Life Lately

Evening All

I thought I'd do a bit of a life update/picture post today. 

This week I've been loving the gym and exercising. I'm back to building my running up slowly while increasing weights and classes on other gym days. I can't wait to start to see a difference. I do feel fitter and now find I have to do at least two classes a time.

L and I are big superhero fans so went to watch Spiderman 2 on Saturday! It was amazing. I'm so in love with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. The film kept me gripped and I did shed a tear haha!

It was my housemates birthday on Monday so we headed out for drinks on Sunday. A few too many long island ice teas, shots and prosecco were consumed and washed down with nachos! It was a great evening and full of laughs! As I've not baked in ages I made a huge chocolate cake for us too. It was lush, so chocolately!! We also then headed down to Cardiff bay last night for dim sum and Chinese! I love the bay and the food was amazing!!

A few good days were topped off by finding out a mark for my practical exam in uni! It was such a relief to do so well in it. Now I'm hoping the stress of the work I handed in on Monday can follow suit and I can get at least 60 in it!

Now for the rest of the week. It's looking set to be a good one!

Love M

xxx